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Special-education teacher Laurie Wasserman shares in this blog post about co-teaching and state testing the varied strategies that she and her colleagues use to prepare all students, including those with disabilities, for state assessments. Strategies vary from practicing previous test questions on a daily basis to ensuring students who need test accommodations use them during regular lessons.

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One New York City school has used various strategies to help a majority of its students with special needs pass state assessments. Most of the school's teachers are dual-certified in special and general education, and teachers use co-teaching and push-in services to meet students' needs.

Creating a good co-teaching relationship begins with agreeing on the learning goals for students, teacher Tom Morrill writes in this blog post. Morrill also offers tips to help co-teachers manage disagreements and guidance for providing support. "If co-teachers support each other in these ways, a teaching marriage can be greater than the sum of its parts," he writes.

Special-education teacher Laurie Wasserman in this blog post offers strategies she and her co-teachers use to make modifications and accommodations that benefit all students in inclusive classrooms. For instance, teachers use quick assignments given at the beginning of class, such as working on a word problem or answering trivia questions, to help all students review. "I think it's important when we look at accommodations that we not feel locked in but consider them part of our 'teacher bag of tricks,'" Wasserman writes.

An experiment in co-teaching between a regular classroom teacher struggling to assist students in need of remedial help and a special educator working to help her students become proficient for standardized tests helped both groups of students greatly improve their test scores. Sixth-grade teacher Laurie Wasserman, who is National Board-certified in learning disabilities, explains how they did it.

An experiment in co-teaching between a regular classroom teacher struggling to assist students in need of remedial help and a special educator working to help her students become proficient for standardized tests helped both groups of students greatly improve their test scores. Sixth-grade teacher Laurie Wasserman, who is National Board-certified in learning disabilities, explains how they did it.